Amanda Brecht

Affiliation: NASA Ames Research Center (ARC)

Division: Space Science and Astrobiology Division (ST)

Branch: Planetary Systems Branch (STT)

Email: amanda.s.brecht@nasa.gov

Phone: 650-604-2983

Websites: MCMC Homepage

Professional Biography

I work with the Mars Climate Modeling Center (MCMC) at NASA Ames Research Center (ARC).  Specifically, I am involved with the vertical extension of the Mars General Circulation Model (MGCM) to incorporate the middle atmosphere. My interest is in how this deeper domain impacts climate cycles, seasonal mean fields, and large-scale wave activity with insight into large and regional scale circulations.  My initial start in the space science field was a summer undergraduate research assistantship with Dr. Janet Luhmann at Space Science Laboratory in Berkeley.  I worked on simulating ionized gas tori around Saturn and creating “fly-through” predictions for the Cassini spacecraft.  My next adventure, as a graduate student at University of Michigan, was working with the Venus Thermospheric General Circulation Model (VTGCM) alongside my advisor Dr. Stephen Bougher.  My focus was to understand the variables that drive Venus’ middle and upper atmosphere structures and climate dynamical processes.  After completing my Ph.D. on Venus, I turned my attention to Mars as a NASA Postdoctoral Program fellow with Dr. Jeff Hollingsworth at NASA ARC. There I began my work on extending the MGCM from the lower atmosphere to the middle atmosphere (~120 km). Currently, I continue to advance my Mars and Venus modeling at NASA ARC to provide context and understanding of observations to support the exploration of planetary atmospheres.

Education

Ph.D. Atmospheric and Space Science, University of Michigan – 2011

M.S. Atmospheric and Space Science, University of Michigan – 2007

B.S. Earth Science: Planetary Science, University of California, Santa Cruz – 2005

Research Interests

Mars atmosphere, Venus atmosphere, planetary science, planetary atmospheres, numerical modeling, general circulation models, global climate models, atmospheric dynamics, atmospheric composition, upper atmosphere properties, comparative planetology.

Select Publications

Martinez, A., Karyu, H., Brecht, A.S., Gilli, G., Lebonnois, S., Kuroda, T., Stolzenbach, A., González-Galindo, F., Bougher, S.W. & Fujiwara, H. (2026). Comparison of General Circulation Models of the Venus upper atmosphere. Icarus, 447. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116901.

Kumar, A.S., England, S.L., Wilson, R.J. & Brecht, A.S. (2026). Quantifying high-frequency migrating tides in the atmosphere of Mars with observations from EMIRS, Curiosity and Perseverance. GRL,  https://doi.org/10.1029/2025GL118933.

Kling, A.L.M., Wilson, R.J., Kahre, M.A., Brecht, A.S. & Murphy, J. (2025). Impact of grid resolution on wave-mean flow interactions with high resolution Mars Global Climate Model simulations. GRL, 52(2). doi:10.1029/2024GL112297

Parkinson, C.D., Bougher, S.W., Mills, F.P., Yung, Y.L., Brecht, A.S., Li, J, Hu. R. & Gronoff, G. (2025). Venus as an Exoplanet: I. An Initial Exploration of the 3-D Energy Balance for a CO₂-Rich Exoplanetary Atmosphere Around the M-Dwarf Star GJ 436. JGR: Planets, 130(10). doi:10.1029/2024JE008540

Ponder, B.M., Ridley, A.J., Bougher, S.W., Pawlowski, D. & Brecht, A.S. (2024). The Venus Global Ionosphere-Thermosphere Model (V-GITM): A coupled thermosphere and ionosphere formulation. JGR: Planets, 129(7). doi: 10.1029/2023JE008079

Kahre, M.A., Haberle, R.M., Wilson, R.J., Urata, R.A., Steakley, K.E., Brecht, A.S., Bertrand, T., Kling, A.L.M., Batterson, C.M.L., Hartwick, V.L., Harman, C.E. & Gkouvelis, L. (2023). The NASA Ames legacy Mars global climate model: Radiation code error correction and new baseline water cycle simulation. Icarus, 400, 115561–115561. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2023.115561

Giles, R.S., Greathouse, T. K., Irwin, P.G.J., Encrenaz, T. & Brecht, A.S. (2022). Three-dimensional structure of thermal waves in Venus’ mesosphere from ground-based observations. Icarus, 387, 115187–115187. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2022.115187

Brecht, A.S., Bougher, S.W., Shields, D., Liu, H.‐L, & Lee, C. (2021). Planetary‐Scale Wave Impacts on the Venusian Upper Mesosphere and Lower Thermosphere. JGR: Planets, 126(1), e2020JE006587-e2020JE006587. doi:10.1029/2020JE006587

Brecht, A.S., Brecht, S., Luhmann, J., Bellan, J., Jessup, K.-L., Navarro, T. et al. (2021). Closing the Gap Between Theory and Observations of Venus Atmospheric Dynamics with New Measurements. Bulletin of the AAS, 53(4). doi:10.3847/25c2cfeb.2c8c0bbc

Parkinson, C.D., Bougher, S.W., Mills, F.P., Yung, Y.L., Brecht, A.S., Shields, D. & Liemohn, M. (2021). Modeling of observations of the OH nightglow in the venusian mesosphere. Icarus, 368, 114580–114580. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2021.114580

Haberle, R.M., Kahre, M.A., Hollingsworth, J.L., Montmessin, F., Wilson, R.J., Urata, R.A., … Brecht, A.S., Kling, A.L.M. et al. (2019). Documentation of the NASA/Ames Legacy Mars Global Climate Model: Simulations of the present seasonal water cycle. Icarus, 333, 130–164. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2019.03.026

Bougher, S.W., Brecht, A.S., Schulte, R., Fischer, J., Parkinson, C.D., Mahieux, A. et al. (2015). Upper atmosphere temperature structure at the Venusian terminators: A comparison of SOIR and VTGCM results. Planetary and Space Science, 113–114, 336–346. doi:10.1016/j.pss.2015.01.012

Gilli, G., López-Valverde, M.A., Peralta, J., Bougher, S.W., Brecht, A.S., Drossart, P. & Piccioni, G. (2015). Carbon monoxide and temperature in the upper atmosphere of Venus from VIRTIS/Venus Express non-LTE limb measurements. Icarus, 248, 478–498. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2014.10.047

Zalucha, A.M., Brecht, A.S., Rafkin, S.C.R., Bougher, S.W. & Alexander, M.J. (2013). Incorporation of a gravity wave momentum deposition parameterization into the Venus Thermosphere General Circulation Model (VTGCM). JGR: Planets, 118(1), 147–160. doi:10.1029/2012JE004168

Brecht, A.S. & Bougher, S.W. (2012). Dayside thermal structure of Venus’ upper atmosphere characterized by a global model. JGR: Planets, 117(E8), 8002–8002. doi:10.1029/2012JE004079

Brecht, A.S., Bougher, S.W., Gérard, J.-C. & Soret, L. (2012). Atomic oxygen distributions in the Venus thermosphere: Comparisons between Venus Express observations and global model simulations. Icarus, 217(2), 759–766. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2011.06.033

Gagné, M., Melo, S.M.L., Brecht, A.S., Bougher, S.W. & Strong, K. (2012). Modeled O2 nightglow distributions in the Venusian atmosphere. JGR: Planets, 117(E12), 12002–12002. doi:10.1029/2012JE004102

Brecht, A.S., Bougher, S.W., Gérard, J.-C., Parkinson, C.D., Rafkin, S.C.R. & Foster, B. (2011). Understanding the variability of nightside temperatures, NO UV and O2 IR nightglow emissions in the Venus upper atmosphere. JGR, 116(E8), E08004–E08004. doi:10.1029/2010JE003770

Technologies & Software

NASA Ames MCMC (2024, December 6). Ames Mars GCM (Version 3.2) [Computer software]. NASA GitHub. doi: 10.25966/ty4s-w176

NASA Ames MCMC (2024, January 17). Ames Mars GCM (Version 3.1) [Computer software]. NASA GitHub. doi: 10.25966/ty4s-w176

NASA Ames MCMC (2023, November 29). Ames Mars GCM (Version 3.0) [Computer software]. NASA GitHub. doi: 10.25966/ty4s-w176

NASA Ames MCMC (2025). Community Analysis Pipeline (Version 4.0) [Computer software]. NASA Planetary Science GitHub.

NASA Ames MCMC (2024, August 14). Data Portal Web Interface [Web tool]. NASA Ames Research Center, NASA.

NASA Ames MCMC (2023, April 12). NASA Ames Legacy Mars Global Climate Model [Computer software]. NASA GitHub. doi: 10.25966/3tpw-nt26

NASA Ames MCMC (2023). Beta Output Release 1 [Data set]. NASA Ames Mars Climate Modeling Center Data Portal. doi: 10.25966/rjgg-r639

NASA Ames MCMC (2023). Legacy Output Release [Data set]. NASA Ames Mars Climate Modeling Center Data Portal. doi: 10.25966/3tpw-nt26

Selected Seminars & Conference Presentations

Brecht, A.S. (2025). Modeling Mars’ atmosphere [Invited Panelist]. Presented at the COSPAR International Space Weather Actions Teams (ISWAT) Working Meeting, Cape Canaveral, FL.

Brecht, A.S., Harman, C.E., Gkouvelis, L., Wilson, R.J., Kling, A.L.M., Urata, R.A. & Kahre, M.A. (2024). Characterizing the Martian Mesosphere with the NASA Ames Mars Global Climate Model [Abstract]. LPI Contributions, 3007. Presented at the Tenth International Conference on Mars, Pasadena, CA.

Sciamma-O’Brien, E., Brecht, A.S., McGouldrick, K., Ennico Smith, K., Ray, H., Homan, J. et al. (2024). Glow: A mission concept to explore Venus’ upper atmospheric dynamics by monitoring nightglows and cloud motion [Abstract]. Presented at the Venus Exploration and Analysis Group (VEXAG) Meeting, Louisville, KY & Virtual.

Byrne, P. K., Cutts, J.A., Baines, K.H., Weinstein-Weiss, S.S., Dorsky, L.I., Brecht, A.S. et al. (2023). Phantom: An Aerobot Mission to the Skies of Venus [Abstract]. Presented at the Venus Surface and Atmosphere, The Woodlands, TX.

Brecht, A.S., Gkouvelis, L., Wilson, R.J., Harman, C.E., Kahre, M.A. & Kling, A.L.M. (2022). Correlating the Seasonal Behavior of Polar Warming and O₂ IR Nightglow [Abstract]. Presented at the Seventh International Workshop on the Mars Atmosphere: Modelling and Observations, Paris, France.

Brecht, A.S. (2021). Investigating the impacts of waves on Venus’ upper atmosphere circulation [Abstract]. Presented at the UC Berkeley Space Science Laboratory Space Physics Seminar, Berkeley, CA.

Gkouvelis, L., Brecht, A.S., Kling, A.L.M., Wilson, R.J., Harman, C.E., Kahre, M.A. & Urata, R.A. (2021). Energy balance and heating mechanisms of the Martian upper atmosphere with the NASA Ames MGCM [Abstract]. Presented at the AGU Fall Meeting, New Orleans, LA & Virtual.

Brecht, A.S., Bougher, S.W. & Parkinson, C.D. (2017). The latest on the Venus thermospheric general circulation model: Capabilities and simulations [Abstract]. Presented at the VENERA-D Venus Modeling Workshop, Moscow, Russia.

Brecht, A.S., Bougher, S.W., Stiepen, A., Soret, L. & Gérard, J.-C. (2015). Twinkling lights in the nightside upper atmosphere: How nightglow contributes to our understanding of global dynamics [Abstract]. Presented at the Comparative Climatology of Terrestrial Planets II: Understanding How Climate Systems Work, Moffett Field, CA.

Awards & Others

Rackham Engineering Award Recruiting Fellowship, University of Michigan (2005–2008)

Teaching Fellowship, Office of Engineering Outreach and Engagement, University of Michigan (2007–2008)

NASA Postdoctoral Program Fellow, NASA Ames Research Center (2011–2013)

Outstanding Early Career Space Scientist Lecture, NASA Ames Space Science & Astrobiology Division Jamboree (2019)